Verizon, Ad Council Link Up for Teen PSA Campaign

In this ever-more digital age, American teenagers are facing a growing number of new forms of abuses and threats—from ‘sexting’ (the practice of sending sexual pictures or messages via cell phones) to taunting on social networks. As a result, Verizon has teamed up with the Advertising Council to deliver a public service campaign aimed at teens that will run across mobile, the Web and TV.

The Ad Councils’ campaign, called “That’s Not Cool”—focuses on the phenomenon of “digital dating abuse”—and features the tagline, “Where do you draw your digital line?” The spots warn teens against such dangers as girlfriends who send coercive text messages, boyfriends who pressure their girlfriends for racy photos, and the practice of spreading rumors online. The concept for “That’s Not Cool” was developed in conjunction with the Family Violence Prevention Fund and the Office on Violence Against Women at the U.S. Department of Justice. The agency R/GA created all the digital and traditional components for the campaign.

Given the media habits of the intended target audience, Ad Council officials said that it was crucial to execute a multiplatform effort. Thus, the campaign marks the first time the group has worked with a single media partner across three screens. Ads will run on Verizon’s mobile Web portal, Verizon FiOS Internet and Verizon FiOS TV.

“These PSAs leverage the various Verizon services to bring maximum impact,” said John Harrobin, senior vp of digital media and marketing at Verizon. “We’re extending the reach of this important work to the online and wireless communities, and we look forward to learning from this so we can continue to bring effective, multi-faceted public service campaigns to our customers.”